





THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 
AND OTHER STORIES 






























































. 












THE DANCING LESSON 



THE 

ANIMAL SCHOOL 

AND OTHER STORIES 

BY 

FRANCES WELD DANIELSON 

ii 

Illustrated by 
CLARA E. ATWOOD 



THE PILGRIM PRESS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 


COPYRIGHT, 1914 
BY LUTHER H. CARY 




OCT - 6 1914 


THE • PLIMPTO K • PRESS 
NORWOOD*MASS*U*S*A 


©CI.A379893 


G RATEFUL acknowledgment is due the follow- 
ing publishers for the use of stories published 
by them: Houghton Mifflin Company, for “The 
Animal Picnic”; S. E. Cassino Company, for “The 
Animal School”; and Arthur H. Crist Company, for 
“The Barn-yard Dancing Class” and “The Wise 
Owl's Deafness.” 








V 










CONTENTS 


PAGE 


The Animal School n 

The Barn-yard Dancing Class 17 

The Animal Picnic 27 

The Canary Singing Teacher 39 

The Circus in the Great Wood 47 

The Wise Owl’s Deafness 55 












ILLUSTRATIONS 


The Wise Owl’s Deafness . 
The Animal School .... 
The Dancing Lesson . . . 

The Picnic 

The Canary Singing Teacher 
The Circus 


. . . .Jacket 

. Cover design 
. Frontispiece 
Facing page 36 


44 

50 









* 








/ 














































THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 



THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 

D ID you ever hear of the Animal School? No? 
Then I will tell you about it. 

Miss Willow was the teacher, and the reason she 
was chosen was — why do you suppose? Because she had 
so many switches about. If anybody didn’t behave, she 
would reach out one of her long arms and get a switch, and 
then — m-m-m-m -M-M ! 

The scholars were the Donkey with his long ears, the 
Owl, always half asleep, and the Horse, who interrupted by 
stamping; the Woolly Sheep, the Billy-goat, the Black Cat, 
and the Curly Dog; the Prim Goose, the Turkey-gobbler, 
the Duck, and the Little Red Hen. Then there was a row 
of birds on the top rail of a fence. And, oh, yes ! there was 
the Frog. I almost forgot the Frog. He sat in a puddle. 


13 


14 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


When it was time to begin, Miss Willow snapped all her 
switches. It was quiet in an instant. 

“ Who is absent? ” said she. 

The Owl cried out, “ Who-oo, who-oo, who-oo? ” 

Miss Willow turned angrily to the Horse. 

“ Was that you who mimicked me? ” she asked. 

The Horse, trembling very much, answered quickly, 
“ Neigh, neigh ! ” 

“ Attention ! ” said Miss Willow. “ What does B-A-A 
spell? ” 

The Woolly Sheep answered, “ Baa! ” 

Just then the Billy-goat stepped on the Little Red Hen’s 
toe. A bird on the fence behind saw him do it and 
screamed, “ Whip-poor-Will ! ” And Miss Willow wept at 
the Billy-goat’s badness. 

“We certainly must have our lesson in manners,” said 
Miss Willow. “ What does a man do when he meets a 
lady? ” 

The Curly Dog cried, “ Bow ! ” and was patted for giv- 
ing the right answer. 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


i5 


“ And how should we eat at the table? ” 

The Turkey answered, “ Gobble, gobble, gobble! ” 

Miss Willow reached for a switch. And the Prim Goose 
said in a shocked voice, “ Hs-s, hs-s! ” 

“ Do we eat with our knives? ” asked Miss Willow. 

“ Neigh,” said the Horse. 

The Little Red Hen put in, “ Cut, cut, cut ! ” 

“ Who is that new scholar on the fence? ” Miss Willow 
then asked. 

A bird answered, “ Bob White ! ” 

“ And who came in late ? ” 

The Black Cat cried, “ Me- ow ! ” 

The Donkey could not answer any of the questions, and 
had to be put on the dunce stool, with a dunce cap over his 
long ears. The Duck always read through her nose, like 
this : “ Quack, quack ! ” And one little, greenish bird had 

to have a handkerchief tied over his bill, because every 
now and then he would shout, “ Teacher — teacher — 
TEACHER!” 

“ What shall we do next? ” Miss Willow asked at last. 


i6 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


All this time the Frog had sat in his puddle and said noth- 
ing. Now he put his head out, and muttered in a deep 
voice, “ Better-go-home, better-go-home, better-go- 
home !” 

So the wind whistled a march, and away home they went. 


THE BARN- YARD DANCING CLASS 





THE BARN- YARD DANCING CLASS 

O NE morning all over the barn-yard fence were 
posters in big letters, which read : 

MADAME SWAN, THE MOST GRACEFUL, 
WILL HOLD A DANCING CLASS 
MORNINGS AT TEN 
ON THE SHORE OF THE DUCK POND 
NO WILD ANIMALS ALLOWED! 

The barn-yard animals were full of interest. They could 
hardly wait for ten o’clock to come. 

“ I always thought I should make a good dancer,” said 
the Cow, mincing about the barn-yard with such awkward 
steps that the Horse had to cough to keep from laughing 
aloud. 

“ Ugh ! ugh ! ” grunted the Pig. “ I’m too fat to dance, 
but I shall go, for maybe there will be something to eat.” 


19 


20 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


“As for clothes,” said the Peacock, “none but myself 
has a real dancing gown.” 

So saying, he spread his beautiful tail, which glistened in 
all colors of the rainbow. 

At ten o’clock the barn-yard animals were on the 
shore of the duck pond, ready for their first dancing lesson. 
Madame Swan swam over from the lake that joined the 
duck pond. She was a beautiful creature. Every turn 
of her long neck was graceful. And when she rested on 
the water and spread out her white wings and bent her 
head in a low bow, the Cow thought she had never seen 
such a sight and wished she had wings instead of fore 
feet. 

“ You may form in a row on the shore. I will teach you 
from the pond,” said Madame Swan. “ Stretch out your 
wings as far as you can to the side, to give plenty of room 
for all.” 

The Roosters and the Hens and the Chickens and the 
Geese and the Ducks and the Turkeys and the Peacock 
obeyed orders, and stood with their wings tip to tip. But 


THE BARN- YARD DANCING CLASS 


21 


the Horse and the Cow and the Pig and the Lamb, who 
had no wings, stood by, not knowing what to do. 

Madame Swan said, “ Those who have no wings may 
stand on their hind legs and stretch out their fore legs.” 

The Horse and the Cow and the Lamb stood on their 
hind legs and stretched out their fore legs, but the Pig was 
too fat to stand on his hind legs. So he rooted in the 
ground with his snout and made a circle about himself, 
which nobody must cross. 

“ Now we will practice sliding,” said Madame Swan. 
“ All to the right ! Slide, slide, one, two, slide ! Now to 
the left ! Slide, slide, one, two, slide ! ” 

The class all tried their best. The Lamb did very well 
indeed, she was so light on her feet. The Hens and the 
Roosters and the Turkeys did pretty well. The Peacock 
was so careful of his dancing dress that he took fine, proud 
steps. The Ducks and the Geese waddled. The Horse’s 
hoofs kept hitting against the Pig, for the Pig moved very 
slowly. But the Cow was the funniest. She stood on her 
hind legs and folded her fore legs together, tilted her head 


22 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


on one side, and was so awkward and thought herself so 
graceful that Madame Swan could not help smiling. 

“ Watch me,” said Madame Swan. “ Slide, slide, one, 
two, slide ! ” 

Ah, how graceful she was! 

“Try again. All to the right! Slide, slide, one, two, 
slide! To the left! Slide, slide, one, two, slide! Don’t 
waddle, Ducks and Geese. Now you may rest.” 

“ Ugh ! ” sighed the Pig. This was an order he liked. 

In a few moments Madame Swan blew a silver whistle 
that hung about her neck. 

“ We will practice bowing,” she said. “ First, the boys. 
Hold your wings or your fore feet down by your sides and 
bow your heads. The Horse may try.” 

The Horse bowed so low that his mane got in his eyes. 

“ Next, the Pig,” said Madame Swan. 

All the Pig could do was to bob his head up and down. 

“ The Rooster,” said Madame Swan. 

The Rooster made everybody jump after his bow by cry- 


ing, “ Cock-a-doodle-doo ! ” 


THE BARN- YARD DANCING CLASS 


23 


“ Now the Turkeys,” said Madame Swan. 

The Turkeys stood in a row and bowed and gobbled all 
at one time. 

“ The Peacock,” said Madame Swan. 

The Peacock had folded up his tail to keep it clean, but as 
he bowed he opened it, wider and wider, till it made a 
beautiful big fan behind him. 

“ The girls must spread out their skirts and cross their 
feet and make a courtesy,” said Madame Swan, spreading 
out her white wings and bending her lovely neck low, till 
her bill touched the water. “ The Hens and the Chickens 
may try.” 

The Hens would have done very well, if the Rooster had 
not pecked them. The Chickens looked cunning, as they 
spread their little yellow wings and crossed their little yel- 
low feet. 

When the Geese and the Ducks tried, Madame Swan 
was cross. 

“ You are bow-legged,” she said. “ You waddle.” 

The Lamb had such very short wool skirts there was 


24 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


nothing to hold out, so she made an awkward courtesy. 
As for the Cow, what do you suppose she held out instead 
of skirts? Her tail ! How the rest of the class did laugh ! 

“ Form a circle,” ordered Madame Swan. “ Now march 
around; first step and then point. All ready! Step and 
point, step and point, step and point ! ” 

The Pig did this the best of anything, only he would 
point with his snout instead of his foot. The Hens and the 
Chickens and the Rooster and the Turkeys did well, too, 
and the Peacock shut his tail and opened it so often that he 
made a great show. 

But Madame Swan was very angry at the Geese and the 
Ducks. “ You waddle,” she said. “ You are bow-legged.” 

“ Come and show us how,” they begged. 

And then Madame Swan swam ashore and stepped up to 
the circle. All the class opened their eyes, as they looked 
at their teacher now she was out of the water. Was this 
the graceful Madame Swan? 

“You are bow-legged,” cried the Horse and the Cow, 
the Pig, and the Lamb, the Rooster and the Hens and the 


THE BARN- YARD DANCING CLASS 


25 


Chickens, the Turkeys and the Peacock, and loudest of all, 
the Ducks and the Geese. “ You are bow-legged. You 
waddle.” 

Upon which Madame Swan took to the water and swam 
away, the posters were taken down from the fence, and 
that was the end of the barn-yard dancing class. 













THE ANIMAL PICNIC 


I 


THE ANIMAL PICNIC 


T HE children had a picnic in the pine grove at Pleas- 
ure Pond. They supposed they were far away 
from everybody. They did not know that bright 
eyes watched them all the time. Yet it was true. In the 
trees and the bushes and the grass were the bright eyes 
of the wood creatures watching. 

Now, the very day after the picnic, the wood creatures 
said to one another, “ Let us have a picnic.” 

“ Who shall go? ” asked the Hoot Owl. “ Who, who? ” 
“ Gr-r-r-reat and small, gr-r-r-reat and small,” growled 
the Grizzly Bear. 

“ Meet at the Black Oak,” said the White Rabbit, point- 
ing his long ears toward the tree. “ Be there at sunrise. 
Bring your lunch.” 

The Red Fox licked his lips and smiled slyly, and looked 


29 


30 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


out of the corners of his eyes at some fat little Field-mice, 
who shivered with fear. But the White Rabbit raised his 
ears still higher and pointed them straight at the Red Fox 
and said, 

“ Each animal brings his own lunch, and no meat is 
allowed! ” 

Then the Red Fox rolled his eyes toward a pink toad- 
stool, as if all he had ever thought of eating were dainty 
little toadstools or early buds or juicy leaves. 

Next morning the sun had only just begun to waken and 
yawn and stretch his long rays up over the edge of the 
world, when there was a rustle and a bustle all through the 
wood. There was the crash and tramp of the big wood 
animals — the Grizzly Bear and the Lone Deer. 

There was the hurry and scurry of the smaller wood ani- 
mals — the Rabbits and the Squirrels and the Moles and 
the Mice. There was the fluttering and whirring of the 
wood birds. There was the buzzing and humming of the 
insects. All the wood paths and sky paths leading to 


THE ANIMAL PICNIC 


3i 


the Black Oak were filled with these noises, as one by 
one the wood creatures met there to go to the picnic. 

The White Rabbit stood at the foot of the tree and 
pointed with his long ears to each animal and bird as he 
arrived. He saw every one. A snarl and a hiss told him 
that the Wild Cat was up in the branches of the Black 
Oak. Last of all he pointed to a dark place behind the 
tree. There sat the smiling Red Fox. No one had seen 
him come, he crept up so quietly. 

In the meantime the sun had been yawning and stretch- 
ing his rays higher and higher, till he must have been quite 
wakened by the rustle and bustle ; for he poked his round 
yellow face up over the edge of the world and saw the 
gathering at the Black Oak. This was the signal to leave, 
and the party started for the picnic grounds. The Grizzly 
Bear went ahead, to break a way through the underbrush. 
The White Rabbit went behind, to watch the whole com- 
pany, and see that no one disobeyed the order, “ No meat 
allowed!” 


32 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


Such a sight as it was! The sun blinked and winked 
and poked his head up higher to see. There was the Black 
Bear carrying under his arm a pot of honey. The Wild 
Cat would not walk in the procession. She took an over- 
head path, and sprang from tree to tree. About her neck 
was fastened a bunch of catnip. Just as she had left a 
tree, it would be filled with a flock of birds, twittering and 
calling, and each bird had hung upon one wing a small 
basket of seeds. The Squirrels ran along the ground part 
of the way and every now and then climbed a tree hill and 
ran down the other side. Their cheeks stuck out, for they 
carried lunches of nuts in them. The Lone Deer had some 
branches of juicy young leaf buds in his horns. Each 
Rabbit had a few leaves of lettuce. The Bees carried bee- 
bread in their trousers pockets. 

The Red Fox stepped along in full sight of all, holding 
up his tail daintily. In his paw was a basket of pink and 
white toadstools. He smiled sweetly as if to say, “ I 
would never hurt a fly! I could not bear to taste any- 
thing stronger than delicate pink and white toadstools. ,, 


THE ANIMAL PICNIC 


33 


But every once in a while he looked out of the corner of 
his eyes at the fat little Field-mice, and they shivered. 

When the picnic ground was reached, the White Rab- 
bit appointed the Hoot Owl to sit on a tree near the 
baskets of lunch and guard them. It was about all the 
Hoot Owl could do at a picnic by day, for then he was al- 
most blind. He had begged for a night picnic, but all the 
other creatures except the Whippoorwill had voted against 
it. 

So the Hoot Owl guarded the lunch ; and if he heard any 
creature coming near, he would say, “ Who, who? ” in 
such a terrible voice that the creature would slink away 
quickly. 

At the pond were more picnickers, who did not meet the 
rest at the Black Oak, because they could not breathe long 
out of water. They kept their lunches fresh under water, 
and took charge of the water sports. The Muskrats took 
parties out in rowboats. The Electric Eel ran a motor 
boat. The Crabs let a spring-board for ten cents a dive. 
The fishes had swimming matches with wreaths of eel- 


34 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


grass for prizes. The Yellow Pickerel and the Black 
Bass won the prizes, and all the wild animals stood in a 
row on the shore, while they leaped out of the water to 
show the beautiful wreaths of eel-grass on their heads. 

The White Rabbit had charge of the games for the other 
animals. They played “ London Bridge Is Falling 
Down.” The Black Bear and the Lone Deer made the 
bridge, because they were the tallest. The Red Fox 
begged to be one side of the bridge, but the Field-mice 
shivered and said they would not play if he was. 

They all played hide-and-seek. The trees were splendid 
places to hide behind ; but when the Red Fox was “ it,” the 
Field-mice went for a ride in the Electric Eel’s motor boat. 
Then they played ring toss on the Lone Deer’s horns. 
The rings were made out of willow twigs with the green 
leaves on them. The Lone Deer stood very straight and 
still while the rings were being tossed. After the White 
Rabbit had tossed, all the animals clapped ; for every ring 
had caught on a horn, and the Lone Deer looked like a 
Willow-tree. 


THE ANIMAL PICNIC 


35 


The birds had flying matches, and the animals sat 
in a row while they gave a little concert. Nobody cared 
to go boat-riding then; so the Muskrats leaned on their 
oars, and the Electric Eel shut off the power in his motor 
boat, and there was a line of little fishes sticking their 
heads out of the water to listen. 

After the song an orchestra played. The Partridge 
drummed, the Woodpecker beat his kettle-drum, the 
Wood- thrush was first violin, the Locust played the fife, 
the Peepers in the pond played the flute, and the Bullfrog 
the big bass horn. 

At last came lunch. The Chewink called them all to- 
gether by singing, “ Drink-your-te-e-e-ea ! ” 

“ Nobody-br-r-r-ought-tea! ” growled the Grizzly Bear. 

A squeaky voice cried, “ Katy did ! ” but another squeaky 
voice answered, “ Katy didn’t ! ” They kept up the quar- 
rel, crying, “Katy did!” and “Katy didn’t!” till every 
one was nervous; for no one knew Katy anyway, or cared 
whether or not she brought tea. Then another voice 
broke in and cried, “ Whip-poor-Will,” as if Will were 


36 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


making all the trouble; and nobody knew who Will was. 
In the midst of all the noise another bird voice cried, 
“ Witch-it-is, Witch-it-is! ” And all the birds and animals 
thought that probably it was the wood witch, so they 
pounced upon their lunches and set to work eating. 

Well it was that they did; for the Red Fox had drawn 
very, very near to the Field-mice, who were shivering. 
But when the White Rabbit pointed his ears at him, the 
Red Fox was just lifting a dainty pink toadstool to his 
smiling mouth! 

It was odd to see the Squirrels crack their nuts. The 
Black Bear had very bad table manners. He just dipped 
his paws into the jar of honey and then licked them off. 
The Bees looked like small boys, taking pieces of bee- 
bread out of their trousers pockets. 

After dinner everybody wanted to go to sleep; for the 
sun was high in the sky, and they were tired. Everybody 
wanted to, but nobody dared — except the Red Fox, who 
was already curled up with his eyes shut. But the Field- 
mice could have told you that he was not really asleep. 



THE PICNIC 









THE ANIMAL PICNIC 


37 


The only wide-awake ones were the Squirrels; and they 
were bothering all the rest with their chitter, chatter , chit- 
ter, chatter, chitter, chatter. 

So the White Rabbit stood very straight, with his ears 
pointed, and cried, “ The picnic is over ! To your homes, 
good people ! ” 

And the next minute there was not an animal or a bird 
or an insect or a fish in sight, except a lazy Bumblebee, 
who was humming on his way home. 



THE CANARY SINGING TEACHER 



THE CANARY SINGING TEACHER 

T HE Canary from the city hung in a gilded cage on 
the piazza of the big house. Behind the big house 
was the meadow, and back of the meadow were 
the woods, and at the edge of the woods was the river. 
So the meadow birds and the wood birds and the river 
birds all knew about the Canary in the gilded cage. He 
was very proud. Whenever they came near he tilted back 
his head and swelled out his throat and sang, “Sweet, 
sweet, trrrrrrrr! Some day I’ll teach you to sing.” 

One morning the family that lived in the big house were 
away for the day, and left the Canary on the piazza in his 
gilded cage. He whistled to the country birds to come, 
and they flew from the meadow and the woods and the 
river, and lighted upon the trees and bushes and on the 
edge of the piazza. They wondered what the Canary 
from the city would teach them. 


41 


42 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


“Sweet, sweet, trrrrrrrr,” trilled the Canary. “ Now 
you may all sing the scale. The Chickadee may try first.” 

The little Chickadee fluffed out his feathers and sang, 
“ Chick-a-dee-dee-dee!” 

“ Yes, Chickadee,” said the Canary, “ I know your 
name, but I want you to sing the scale.” 

The Chickadee opened his bill wide this time, and tried 
his best to sing the scale, but all he could sing was his own 
name — “ Chick-a-dee-dee.” 

The Pewee tried next, but he could not sing the scale. 
He, too, sang his own name — “ Pe-wee.” The Phoebe 
did the same, only he told his name twice over. First he 
said it, “ Phoebe ! ” Then he asked if it wasn’t right, 
“ Phoebe? ” 

Just here two French birds, who did not know a word of 
English, heard the other birds giving their names and so 
called out theirs — “ Chebec ! ” and “ Chewink ! ” Where- 
upon the Flicker laughed and laughed and laughed. 

“What countrified people!” said the Canary. “You 
don’t hear me telling my name. Trrrrrr, sweet, sweet, 


THE CANARY SINGING TEACHER 


43 


sweet, sweet , sweet, trrrrrrrrl That’s the way to sing. 
Now can’t any one sing do or re or mi? ” 

The Catbird stood up and tried to sing mi, but it 
sounded like “ me-ow.” It sounded so much like “ me-ow ” 
that the Canary nearly fell from his perch. Again the 
Flicker laughed, for he and all the other country birds 
knew that there was no cat about but only a Catbird. 

“ Well, if you cannot sing the scale,” said the Canary, 
“ can you trill — trrrrrrrrrrrrr ? ” 

Then a little row of Field-sparrows and Vesper-spar- 
rows and Tree-sparrows trilled. 

“ Good ! ” said the Canary, “ but I can do better. Sweet, 
sweet, sweet, sweet, sweet, trrrrrrrrrrrrr !” 

Like an echo came a song, <( Sweet, sweet, sweet, 
trrrrrrrrr! ” 

“ Who was that? ” cried the Canary. 

A little brown bird with a spotted vest stood up. It was 
the Song-sparrow. 

(t Sweet, sweet, sweet, trrrrrrrrr !” he sang again. 

“For a country bird that does very well,” said the 


44 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


Canary. “ Can any of you country birds sing as long a 
song as mine? ” 

The Brown Thrasher lashed his tail and sang and sang 
and sang, till all the other birds wondered how he could 
have breath enough for so long a song. 

The Canary said nothing. Pretty soon he lifted his head 
proudly and boasted, “ My voice is said to be like an opera 
singer’s. Can any of you country birds equal that? ” 

At this the Wood-thrush sang like a violin and the Part- 
ridge drummed, and the Blackbirds perched in a tree and 
sang together, sounding just like an orchestra tuning up. 

“ I can make people cry with my singing,” the Canary 
said, “ and I can make people gay.” 

Then the Rose-breasted Grosbeak sang a song with a 
sob in it, and the Bobolink sang a song with a laugh in it, 
and the Blue Jay screamed and the Oriole whistled and 
the Bluebird warbled. 

The Canary looked crestfallen, but he said, “You do 
pretty well for country birds, who have never taken les- 



THE CANARY SINGING TEACHER 






THE CANARY SINGING TEACHER 


45 


sons in singing, but, ah ! listen to me — sweet, sweet , sweet, 
sweet , sweet, sweet, trrrrrrrrrrrrr ” 

He tipped his head away back as he sang, and did not 
see all the birds flying back to the meadow and the woods 
and the river. All he heard, when he opened his eyes, was 
the Humming-bird’s “ hmmmmmmm,” and far away the 
birds saying over their names just as they did in the first 
place, — 

“ Chickadee-dee-dee ! ” 

“ Pe-wee ! ” 

“ Chebec ! ” 

“ Che wink ! ” 

“ Phoebe ! Phoebe ? ” 


THE CIRCUS IN THE GREAT WOOD 


THE CIRCUS IN THE GREAT WOOD 


T HE circus was in town. Everybody had gone home 
from the evening performance. The managers 
were sleeping, and they supposed the animals 
were asleep, too. How surprised they would have been if 
they had known that the animals were holding a circus 
in the Great Wood ! There was no tent. If it rained no- 
body cared. And as for needing a tent to keep the per- 
forming animals from running away, why, the audience 
wished everything left open, so that they could run away. 
For the audience were the animals from the barn-yard. 

At the edge of the Great Wood was a round meadow, 
and this meadow was the circus ring. The audience sat 
under the shade of the trees about the meadow; though, 
really, the Cat was the only one who sat, for the Cow and 
the Horse stood, the Pig lay down, the Turkeys and the 


49 


50 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


Hens roosted in the branches, the Dog ran about, and the 
Lamb skipped between the acts. 

If you had noticed the audience carefully, you would 
have seen that each animal had taken his place near some 
path which led out of the Great Wood, and that even 
though the Cow chewed her cud, and the Pig took naps, 
they all glanced nervously along the paths, when the per- 
formers came very near. 

The ringmaster was the large Monkey. He cracked his 
whip and in came the Horses, with small Monkeys riding 
them. These Monkeys rode bareback and standing up, 
and with one foot on each Horse, and jumped through 
hoops, like the men and women riders. Two tiny 
Monkeys put their arms round each other and danced on 
the back of a big, white Horse. The large Monkey 
cracked his whip and the Horses obeyed him, just as they 
obeyed the real ringmaster. 

The audience could not clap, having no hands, but the 
Rooster crowed, cock-a-doodle-doo! the Hens laughed, 



' ' - 




nm 


ClOro C .ftCOoC 


THE CIRCUS 




































. 












• ' 


* 


























THE CIRCUS IN THE GREAT WOOD 51 


cut , cut , cut , cut , cut , cut , cut! the Horse stamped and the 
Dog barked, bow wow , bow wow! 

Then the Trick Pony came out to spell. The ringmas- 
ter put down blocks with letters on them. 

“ Is any lady in the audience chewing gum? ” he asked. 
The Trick Pony touched the letters C-O-W. 

“ Which of the audience brought along a teakettle ? ” 
The Trick Pony touched the letters C-A-T. 

“ I hear somebody snoring. Who is it? ” 

The Trick Pony touched the letters P-I-G. 

“ What big country relative have you in the front row? ” 
The Trick Pony touched the letters H-O-R-S-E. 

“What child keeps calling ^3^’?” 

The Trick Pony touched the letters L-A-M-B. 

“Who in the audience can’t keep his tongue in his 
mouth? ” 

The Trick Pony touched the letters D-O-G. 

As the Trick Pony left the ring the Rooster crowed, 

cock-a-doodle-doo! the Hens laughed, cut , cut, cut , cut, 


52 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


cut, cut , cut! but the Horse was tco angry to stamp, and 

the Dog too put out to bark. 

Then the Bear came on — but not to dance. He could 
dance at the real circus, and he didn’t like to dance any- 
way. He had always wanted to ride the bicycle, so he 
rode round and round the ring. Once he turned a somer- 
set in the air and came down on the seat. 

The Elephant walked the tightrope, balancing with his 
trunk. The Lion was tired of having people’s heads in 
his mouth, so he put his head in the Crocodile’s mouth, and 
kept it there so long that the Crocodile wept big tears. 
The Giraffe was the snake-charmer and wound the Snakes 
about his neck like necklaces. Even the Pig kept awake 
to see this. The Camel danced. He had always envied 
the Bear his dancing. But the Hens kept laughing at him 
— cut , cut , cut 3 cut , cut , cut , cut! 

The Tiger was the clown. His face was painted white, 
and he wore big, flapping shoes, and smiled and told funny 
stories, but no matter how funny the stories were, not even 
the Hens laughed, for the Tiger’s smile was not funny. 


THE CIRCUS IN THE GREAT WOOD 53 


The Pig was awake and standing up, all the time the clown 
was in the ring. The Lamb trembled so he could not say 
“ ma-ma.” 

The Tiger was so angry because he could not make the 
audience laugh that at last he stumbled awkwardly and 
fell, one shoe coming off. He thought this surely would 
bring a laugh, but as he fell he hit his knee and growled at 
the pain like this — grrrrrrrrrr! When he got up to see 
why nobody laughed at that very funny act, why, there 
was no audience there — and all he could hear was a pat- 
ter and whisk and whirr of hurrying footsteps and wings. 

So this was the end of the circus in the Great Wood. 




- 













THE WISE OWL’S DEAFNESS 






THE WISE OWL’S DEAFNESS 


T HE Wise Owl was the master of a school for birds 
and animals. His eyes were so big and round, his 
voice was so deep and low, his stick was so long 
and strong that he easily kept good order. 

The Wise Owl made the Cat and the Dog write their 
names close together on the blackboard, and the Cat felt 
sure that the Dog would not dare harm her. He often 
told the Mice and the Partridges to look over the same 
book with the Cat, and though they trembled very much, 
they knew they were safe. Even the Rabbits were not 
afraid to read their Carrot Readers with their backs to the 
Dog. 

It was usually a quiet and busy school, with no sound 
from those not reciting but the scratching of pens or the 
faint snoring of the Goose, as she slept on the dunce stool ; 


57 


58 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


for the Wise Owl was very strict and allowed no whisper- 
ing. 

One day the Cat came to school early. 

“ Good morning, Wise Owl,” she said softly, as she had 
been trained to speak. 

To her surprise the Wise Owl did not answer but kept 
on writing, and as he wrote he sneezed three times. 

“ Good morning, Wise Owl,” the Cat said again, this 
time very loudly. 

“ Good morning, my dear,” croaked the Wise Owl. “ I 
did not hear you come in.” 

The Cat at once slipped out the door to meet the other 
scholars and tell them the news. 

“ The Wise Owl is deaf from a cold,” she announced. 
“ Today we need not study our lessons. We will whisper 
the answers to each other, for he will never hear.” 

The first to recite was the lowest class in reading. In 
it were the three Partridges, the two Storks and the three 
Tortoises. They took their places in front of the black- 
board, while the Wise Owl wrote the word Carrot. 


THE WISE OWL’S DEAFNESS 


59 


“ What is this word? ” he asked the Partridges, but the 
Partridges could not answer. 

“ It’s the best thing to eat in the garden,” whispered the 
Rabbits. 

“ Worms,” answered the Partridges. 

“ Certainly not,” said the Wise Owl. “ The word is 
Carrot.” 

The Wise Owl wrote the word Tortoise and asked the 
Tortoises to read it, but they could not. 

“We can read our own name,” whispered the Pigs. 

“ Pig,” piped the Tortoises. 

“ No, indeed,” said the Wise Owl. “ The word is Tor- 
toise.” 

He stopped writing and looked sternly at the Storks. 

“ What does C-A-T spell? ” he asked. 

“ It spells me,” whispered the cat, very low. 

“ Me,” answered the Storks. 

“ Why, why ! ” said the Wise Owl, “ what is the trouble 
with this class? I will try you in number work. Tor- 
toises, how many are one and one? ” 


6o 


THE ANIMAL SCHOOL 


The Tortoises did not know. 

“ Count your legs,” whispered a Stork, looking down at 
hers. 

“ One, two, three, four,” said the Tortoises, counting 
their own. “ One and one are four.” 

“ Wrong! ” said the Wise Owl. “ The answer is two.” 

“ How many are three and two? ” the Wise Owl asked 
the Partridges. 

The Partridges did not know. 

" Count your toes,” whispered the Cat, looking down at 
hers. 

“ One, two, three, four,” said the Partridges, counting 
their own. “ Three and two are four.” 

“ Wrong! ” said the Wise Owl. “The answer is five.” 

“ How many is three less one? ” the Wise Owl asked the 
Storks. 

The Storks did not know. 

“ Count your fore paws,” whispered the Dog, looking 
down at his. 


THE WISE OWL’S DEAFNESS 


61 


“ None,” the Stork answered. “ Three less one is 
none.” 

“ Wrong! ” said the Wise Owl. “ The answer is two.” 

Then the Wise Owl opened his eyes very wide and said 
in a deep voice, “ All those who whispered and all those 
who listened may stay in from recess and study their les- 
sons. I may be deaf but I am not blind.” 

























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